News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, giveaways on this and other blogs, and other cool stuff.
Books & Ebooks in the News:
- Harper Lee finally agrees to issue To Kill a Mockingbird as an ebook and digital audiobook. The announcement came on the author’s birthday, April 28. (HarperCollins press release; also The Guardian)
- HarperCollins to buy Harlequin, subject to approval by both Canadian and U.S. regulators. I sure didn’t see that one coming. (Publishers Weekly)
- Book Con diversity controversy rumbles on (Publishers Weekly), and a social media campaign took place on May 1-3 on Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and pretty much all over the internet. (May 3 is today; feel free to join in!)
- The Edgar Awards were Thursday night! You can see the nominees and winners on the Edgars website, and Publishers Weekly reports on the awards ceremony.
- Gravity author Tess Gerritson is suing Warner Bros. for breach of contract. (Press release on CNBC.com; also an article in The Christian Science Monitor)
- J. K. Rowling sad that her mother never knew about Harry Potter, according to an interview on BBC4, as reported by The Guardian.
- From the “Now I’ve heard everything” department: Someone tried to ban Hop on Pop from the Toronto public library system. Yes, the Dr. Seuss book. No, apparently it wasn’t a joke. (CTV News, Toronto)
- Goodreads was down for hours on Friday, and again more briefly Friday night. Their Twitter feed acknowledged and apologized for the outage, but gave no inkling of the cause.
Worth Reading:
- Bubble vocabulary: the words you almost know, sometimes use, but are secretly unsure of. (The Good Word, by Seth Stevenson, on Slate.) There’s a quiz, too.
- A Close Reading of BookCon’s Statement — the one they issued after the hullabaloo started regarding the lack of author diversity on their panels. (Hint: it’s too little, too late, and falls short of a real and believable apology.) (BookRiot)
For Writers & Bloggers:
- Writing opportunities for May & June: links to writing competitions, literary magazines, workshops, and residencies, collected by Aerogramme Writer’s Studio.
Book & Movie Announcements:
- The Fault in Our Stars extended trailer is out!
- Two early stories by SF author Octavia Butler will be published in June by ebook publisher/retailer Open Road Media. Butler died in 2006; she was the author of the Exogenesis and Earthseed series and Kindred, among other books. (Washington Post: Books)
- Altered Perceptions, an SFF anthology by authors who have donated their work to help fellow author Robison Wells (Variant, Feedback, Blackout) with crushing medical bills, is available through an IndieGoGo campaign. Wells has been diagnosed with panic disorder, depression, and OCD. Anthology contributors include Aprilynne Pike, Brandon Mull, Brandon Sanderson, Jessica Day George, Mary Robinette Kowal, Lauren Oliver, Seanan McGuire, Shannon Hale, and many others. Many of the selections are first drafts or deleted material from popular books; some authors contributed original stories. If you like SFF or just want to help a talented author, check it out.
Awesome lists:
- The Top Children’s Books chosen by Goodreads readers in the last 25 years.
- 12 Literary Spots In London That Every Book Lover Needs To Visit. Omigosh, when can I go?!
- Literary pet names: feline edition. AKA “What to name your cat.” (Book Riot) Does your pet have a literary name?
- Quiz: How Many of These Classic Thrilling Mysteries Have You Read? Well… many are classics, but the list also includes books by John Grisham, Jo Nesbo, Gillian Flynn and others.
- Sarah MacLean offers a list of diverse romance writers on her blog.
- The top 10 funniest books, according to ABE Books’ British customers.
Just for fun:
- Studies Show: Fewer People Reading Scrolls (Rachel Cordasco, BookRiot)
Bookish Quotes:
That’s it for this week!
I’m always on the lookout for interesting articles, lists, and links for News & Notes, so please let me know if you see (or write!) anything that might be good for this feature. You can leave me a comment or send me an email — my address is on the About/Review Policy/Contact page.
Bea
The Hop on Pop kerfluffle still amazes me. Did they actually READ the book? smh
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
It baffles me… I got the sense that the dad who lodged the complaint was jumped on by his kid(s). Which isn’t unusual for a very small child, Hop on Pop or not. And the book does say NOT to hop on Pop!
Angela's Anxious Life
I haven’t read Fault in Our Stars yet and actually don’t plan on it. Is that sad??? Well… speaking of sad, I just don’t like sad books that make me cry. It just isn’t for me. So I feel like I can’t get on the excited train for this!! I feel so out of the loop!
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
I understand, and to be honest, I usually avoid books like this too, because I know they’ll make me sad. In this case, I promised my daughter ‘Robin’ that I would read it so we can see the movie together… but I’m really apprehensive. I hear TFIOS is wonderful and beautiful as well as sad, so I’m hoping I can find enough hope amid the heartbreak to make it bearable!
kimbacaffeinate
I love to Kill a Mocking Bird and wow to the HarperCollins Harlequin merger. Sweet..two of my favorite houses.
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
Mine too! I just hope HC does what it says it plans to, and lets Harlequin run independently. I like the way they’ve expanded beyond their original scope and audience, particularly with the MIRA and Teen lines.
Tressa S
So happy for To Kill a Mockingbird to be released in those versions. I’m very surprised about Harper Collins purchasing Harlequin as well. Thanks for sharing!
Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
I’m glad too — not least because (oh, the shame!) I haven’t read it yet. I plan to get to it sometime this summer, though.